Author's Note: Roderich is 19, Ludwig is 13, and Gilbert is 5 ½.

Chapter 2: The Murders

Roderich, Ludwig, and Gilbert shuddered while hiding in the closet of Ludwig's bedroom in their home in Frankfurt. They shook harder as they heard the sounds of their parents, Claus and Elise Beilschmidt, screaming for their kids' lives.

"Give us those fucking kids!" an angry male voice shouted. A gunshot rang out.

"You'll never get them!" Claus yelled as he shot back.

"Please, leave our family alone," Elise pleaded, loud enough for her children to hear.

Roderich was standing in front of his little brothers, holding Lui's baseball bat tightly in both hands, ready to strike if anyone found them.

"Roddy?" Gilbert asked Roderich.

"What?" Roderich asked back.

"Um…are you and Vash…uh, together?" asked Gilbert.

"What?" Roderich asked, confused at what his youngest brother was talking about.

"Well, you're in the closet, so…" said Gilbert.

"Hey!" said Roderich. He looked like he really wanted to hit Gilbert with the bat more than the people downstairs. "Vash and I do not like-like each other! We're friends."

"Uh, guys, I don't think this is the time or the place to get into this," Ludwig warned. "In case you haven't noticed, there are people downstairs ATTACKING OUR PARENTS!"

"Sorry," Roderich said and stopped glaring at Gilbert.

"I'm scared," Gilbert said and huddled against Ludwig.

Ludwig hugged Gilbert. "Don't worry, Big Brother will protect you."

"Ssh!" Roderich said urgently to his brothers. "I think I heard something."

The brothers heard the sounds of things breaking, followed by shouting, then more gunshots, along with their parents screaming in pain as they got hit.

Gilbert started to cry. "Mommy, Daddy."

Ludwig buried Gilbert's face into his shirt. "Ssh, quiet, Little Prussia."

Roderich, Ludwig, and Gilbert then heard the voice of Jeremie speaking harshly to their mother and father.

"Okay, Claus, Elise," Jeremie said. "My comrades and I will give you two one more chance. Will you give us Mudgig and Gilbert?"

"That's. Not. My. NAME!" Ludwig said angrily and quietly, and gritted his teeth. It really took all his willpower to not run out of the closet and downstairs to Jeremie and the others.

"Or will we have to take them from you by force?" came the voice of Yumi.

"You'll…have to kill us…first…" Claus said weakly.

"Okay, then," said Ulrich. "You want to die, so be it." Six gunshots could be heard, and the brothers all jumped at the sounds. Claus and Elise's voices couldn't be heard anymore.

Roderich knelt on the floor of the closet and dropped the bat, while Ludwig held Gilbert tighter. Then they froze when they heard Jeremie speaking to his buddies.

"Find those kids," Jeremie ordered. "And if their dorky brother is with them, kill him, too."

"Do we have to?" Odd asked. He really didn't want to cause Roddy, Lui, and Gilbo any more pain.

"Yes, we have to, moron!" Jeremie yelled. "Now, you and Aelita follow Ulrich and Yumi, and find those brats! NOW!"

"Y-Y-Yes, Jeremie," Odd and Aelita said in scared voices. They retreated upstairs after Ulrich and Yumi, while Jeremie was probably thinking of how to dispose of Claus and Elise's bodies.

"Scheiße," Roderich said nervously. "We're done for."

"Big Brother," Gilbert said, his face still buried in Ludwig's shirt. He was now shaking like a leaf.

"We're not done yet," Ludwig said as he and his brothers heard Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita's footsteps going in and out of the upstairs rooms of the house. He handed Gilbert to Roderich and slowly opened the closet door. Then he spoke in a whisper, because the footsteps were getting closer to his room. "Come on, follow me. We're going out the window."

Roderich and Gilbert—who was holding a teddy bear—followed Ludwig to his bedroom window and watched as he opened it.

"Are you crazy?" Roderich said when he looked out the window.

"Just go out the fucking window!" Ludwig whispered. "We don't have time for your whining about jumping from the second story!"

"Fine," said Roderich. He held Gilbert out the window. "You first, Little Prussia."

"I'm scared, Roddy," said Gilbert.

"Don't worry, Lui and I are right behind you," said Roderich. He watched as Gilbert climbed down from the roof of the house, then waited until Ludwig was safely outside before climbing out himself.

Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita reported back to Jeremie, who was just absently poking at Claus and Elise's corpses with a fire poker.

"Well?" Jeremie said as he looked up and saw that his buddies were back. "Where are the brats?"

"Jeremie, we're really sorry," said Ulrich.

"We're not," Odd and Aelita said under their breath.

"But we couldn't find Ludwig and Gilbert, or Roderich," Yumi finished for Ulrich.

Jeremie instantly stopped poking the dead bodies before him, dropped the poker, and stood up. His face was red with anger. "What? What do you mean, you couldn't find them? How hard is it to locate a thirteen-year-old and a six-year-old? Especially a six-year-old?" Then he started cursing in French and delivered punches to Odd and Aelita, who were happy that the Beilschmidt brothers had gotten away.

Roderich, Ludwig, and Gilbert were walking quickly through the streets of Frankfurt, hiding behind buildings.

"Roddy, carry me," said Gilbert. He held out his arms to his eldest brother.

"Oh, okay," said Roderich. He picked Gilbert up; they moved much faster when Gilbert was being carried anyway.

"Where are we gonna go?" Ludwig asked Roderich.

"I don't know," Roderich replied. "We'll have to catch a boat leaving Germany. We can't stay here anymore."

Ludwig sighed sadly.

"We hafta leave?" Gilbert said. He really didn't like the idea of leaving his friends.

"I'm sorry, guys," said Roderich. "But we have to get out of the country. It's the only way I can keep you two safe from those bastards."

The brothers kept walking until they reached a port. Luckily, Roderich had gotten passports for himself, Ludwig, and Gilbert earlier in the year for just in case they had to leave the country for whatever reason. Then they hopped the first boat out of Germany, headed for America.

Author's Note: Scheiße- Shit (German)

P.S.: Also, in this story, Roddy's birthday is October 26, Lui's birthday is January 18, and Gilbo's (or little Prussia's) birthday is October 25.